Among the Volturi
by black polish and thick liner
Summary: Christy was adopted into the powerful Volturi coven when she was a baby. She thought her life was as normal as it could be in her situation, but as she is about to discover, it's very far from normal. Christy will soon discover her destiny: one that changes everything she thought she knew and one that puts her best friend in terrible danger.
1. 1: The Human

**I know I haven't posted on here in over a year, but with the release of _Breaking Dawn Part 2_, I decided to write this out.**

**So, let's get to the basics, shall we? I don't own Twilight or Daughters of the Moon, and this story is not for profit, blah blah. Enjoy! (:**

**Also, I have never been to Italy. My portrayal of the country comes totally from my imagination.**

**(*)(*)(*)**

If there's one thing Christy hates about her life, it's that she's been sheltered for most of it. Yes, as the adopted daughter of Marcus, one of the most powerful vampires in the world, she's had several privileges — like being schooled by the best tutor the Volturi could hire, having a personal cook, and getting almost whatever she wanted. She only had to obey only one rule. But that rule was the bane of her existence: she was not allowed to leave the castle in Volterra. Her future, of course, was already decided for her: when she became of age, she would be transformed into a vampire, trained, and made a member of the guard.

At first, Christy obeyed that rule out of sheer terror. Marcus or possibly Aro may not hurt her for breaking it, but Caius definitely would, as he had been against taking her in from the beginning. But one night soon after her twelfth birthday, Christy snuck out for the first time.

It had been an accident, really. She was out in the gardens, admiring the way the roses looked under the light of the full moon, and she suddenly realized that there was someone with her. When she looked, of course, she didn't see anyone, but she knew that the presence she felt was real.

"Please, please, go away," Christy muttered, closing her eyes and scrambling to hide under the concrete bench.

The presence seemed to move closer rather than retreat, and Christy tried not to make a sound. Her chest felt hot, and when she looked, she saw that it was her necklace. Marcus had explained that she'd had it since she was adopted as a baby. A crescent moon hung on a silver chain around her neck, and attached to the moon was a smooth, colorless stone.

Or, rather, the stone was _usually_ colorless. That night, it glowed bright white and threw off rainbow sparks.

Christy gasped in shock and pressed her hand over her charm, hoping that the presence couldn't see the light.

After a few minutes, though, she knew that whatever was in the gardens with her was not going to leave her alone. So she did the next thing that came to her mind, which was flee. She ran all the way to the edge of the Volturi's property and scrambled up the fence. It was ten feet up, but her fear made her strong enough to make it. She slid down the other side of the fence and landed smack on her bottom.

For a few minutes, she sat there, her arms wrapped around her chest, shaking like a leaf. She didn't think that the presence had followed her, but now she was at a loss as to how get back up and over the fence.

That's when it hit her: she was outside the castle. For the very first time in her life, she was outside the Volturi's home. She had snuck out — and it had been completely unintentional.

Christy stood up, laughing as she did. Intentional or not, she was outside, and she was going to enjoy every minute of it. Granted, she didn't have any money, but did you really need money to sight-see? She quickly dusted her pants off just in case there was dirt on them, and began jogging towards the city.

In her so far short life, Christy had imagined freedom many times. But it turned out to be so much better than anything she had come up with. Volterra was illuminated with lights galore, and the music of street musicians filled the air. Vendors stood outside the door of many restaurants, offering free samples of their food, which Christy gladly accepted. After an hour, though, she reluctantly headed back to her home.

"I'll be back," she promised herself in a whisper. "Soon."

And she was. At first, it was only two or three times a month, but soon it became two or three times a week, and then every night. There were long periods of time—sometimes days, sometimes weeks—when she'd stay away to avoid getting caught, but she tried not to worry. She made the promise to herself to always come back. And as years went by, Christy got smarter. She learned to always cover her tracks, and to never attempt to steal money. She learned to always leave when her family was busy, and to never do it when they were thirsty (just in case they decided that blood loss was the proper punishment). But most importantly, she learned to climb the tree instead of the fence, and to never act like she was doing anything wrong.

For twenty months, she got away with her expeditions into the outside world. But when she was thirteen, she was forced to share her secret.

She had been coming back, preparing to climb down the tree on the inside of the property, when a smooth voice whispered, "Well, well, what do we have here?"

Christy looked down and glared at her companion. "What do you want, Alec?"

"Don't tell me you were sneaking out, _poco ragazza*_," Alec said, clearly enjoying himself. Moonbeams bounced off his pale skin, making him appear ghostlike.

Christy knew she was caught, but she still chose to lie. "I wasn't. Can't I climb a tree without being accused of doing something wrong?"

Alec shook his head and walked closer to the tree. "I've been standing here for over an hour."

"It's not my fault you don't have a life." She gripped the trunk tighter and hoped she wouldn't fall.

"Come on down, Christy. Let's talk."

Christy shook her head. "I don't want to talk."

"Listen to me. Either you get down here and talk to me, or I'll turn you in. In fact, I'm half tempted to do it now."

"Don't even bother threatening me with that. I know you'll turn me in anyway."

She didn't have to explain how. Once Aro read Alec's mind, he would know that the Volturi's human resident had broke the only rule she had to follow. And she knew that her punishment was going to be bad.

Alec shook his head. "Aro only reads me when he wants something specific, so that's usually the thing he looks for. He won't look for this."

"That doesn't mean he won't see it," she said, frowning.

"I have found that if you don't dwell on certain events, Aro is more likely to not notice them," Alec said carefully. "Plus, you'll have my back, won't you, Christy?"

Christy shook her head, disgusted. "No. Why would I have your back? What have you ever done for me?"

"I didn't tell the masters about your tendency to sneak out every night for almost a year now," he said.

In that instant, all the blood drained from Christy's face. How was she this stupid—stupid enough to assume that she could sneak out of the Volturi castle for almost a year and not get caught by someone? Even though Aro couldn't get the information directly from Christy, he could get it from someone else in the guard.

Someone like Alec, one of his favorite little pets.

"Big deal," she said, and rolled her eyes. "That's not much."

Alec raised an eyebrow. "Not much? Daddy Dearest might not have punished you very harshly, but Aro would probably have been much stricter. And we both know that Caius would have gladly let my sister deal with you."

"Oh, shut up," Christy muttered.

Alec narrowed his eyes. "Get down here, Christy. If I have to desensitize you in order to make you come down, then I will."

Christy took a deep breath and considered her options. Obviously, she couldn't stay in the tree. She couldn't run into the city. Even though she hated to do it, it looked like her only option was to go talk to one of Aro's favorite pets. Reluctantly, Christy climbed down the tree and walked over to the vampire.

Once she was standing in front of him, she repeated her question. "What do you want?"

"Gosh, Christy, why are you acting so mean?" Alec put a hand over his still, silent heart, feigning shock. "I don't deserve such harsh treatment."

"You're such a _deficiente_."

"Insulting me will get you nowhere."

Christy huffed. "Seriously. What do you want?"

Alec's answer was the last thing Christy had anticipated: "I want to go with you next time."

For a minute or two, she just stood there, staring at him with a gaze that held curiosity, suspicion, and a question of his sanity. Her blue eyes met his red ones, and in them she could see that he was totally serious. If the eyes were the windows to the soul, Alec had a very complicated one. Yes, most of the time, he did not visually emote, and he only seemed to like killing and torturing, but Christy sensed that there was something good deep inside him. Something he had denied for a very long time, but something that needed to be brought to the surface.

Wait...where had all _that_ come from?

Christy sighed and ran her hand through her thick black hair. "_Sei serio._ You're not kidding me, are you?"

"No, I am not."

His face and voice were sincere enough, but could she _really_ trust him?

"You don't think your sister will want to tag along?" she asked.

Alec shook his head. "No. She isn't really interested in the outside world."

Christy raised an eyebrow at him. "And you are?"

"Yes." He paused. "I find that my missions are not enough time away from here."

Christy resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _What a load of stronzate,_ she thought, blinking twice. But instead of voicing her doubts, she said, "All right. Fine. You can come with me. But if I suspect that you're working both sides, these nighttime excursions are over. _Mai faremo li nuovamente._ Understand?"

Alec nodded, grinning somewhat maniacally. "I understand, _poco ragazza._ I understand very well."

**(*)(*)(*)**

**Yes, there will be some words and phrases in Italian mixed in throughout this story. They _are _in Italy, after all. I translated these words using a very specific website, but I'm sure you can find a different one that will work just as well; if not, let me know.**

**I would greatly appreciate any feedback, and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!**


	2. 2: Fight or Flight

When Christy was a young girl, at around four or five years of age, Uncle Aro tried to read her mind with his gift, but he found that he couldn't. And that was very strange, because Christy was telepathic as well, and she had no trouble hearing his thoughts. But for whatever reason, things could come _in_ Christy's mind, but nothing ever went _out_. That's why Aro has to verbally ask her what she was thinking, rather than simply take her hand and see for himself.

Christy shrugs, twirling her altered hair around her index finger. It's now cut just below her shoulders and littered with caramel highlights, but the biggest change is a thick streak of hot pink that shoots out from her right temple.

The two are alone in a room Aro considers to be his "office", so to speak. A desk near the back of the room and a chair directly across from the desk are the only furniture in the room. The desk itself has a lamp on it, sitting by itself on a remote corner, far away from the various folders and binders stacked on top of the desk's surface. The lamp isn't lit, though; the light in the room comes from a large window on the side. The office is secluded, and high up in the tower of the Volturi castle. Really, it's the perfect place to dispose of a headstrong, rebellious teenager.

Not, of course, that Christy is worried about that; she'd have plenty of warning if he decided to take a bite out of her. No, she's more worried that some of the guard might be listening in to see how much trouble she gets in. And if this conversation goes badly for her, she'd never live it down.

"I was thinking that my hair was boring and deserved a little change," she answers, crossing her legs.

"So you sneak out _in the middle of the day_ and get it dyed?" Aro shakes his head. "Really, Christy, I would think that you would have better sense than this."

"It's just hair, Aro. Chemically altering it isn't going to kill me, you know."

_Stupid, stupid girl,_ Aro thinks, and Christy tries her best not frown. She's not stupid—she's fifteen years old and hasn't ever done anything normal. The colors in her hair were her birthday gift to herself. Alec was completely against it because then they could never sneak out again, but Christy had refused to listen to him. She wanted to dye her hair, and nothing was going to stop her. So, earlier in the morning, Christy had climbed the tree and jumped down into the world, as she had been doing for three years, and she had approached a walk-in friendly hair salon with a wad full of stolen cash.

Yes, today, Christy had broken all her sneaking out rules. But she had to admit, it was worth it. She couldn't explain exactly why changing up her hair had made her feel this way, but it did. She felt like a regular teenager.

_I can only imagine what Marcus would do if he had to handle this,_ Aro continues, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. _No, wait. I don't have to imagine. He'd take it easy on her. Lui è pazzo di lei, ma lei ama troppo. He never _has_ cared much for discipline..._

Christy takes a deep breath herself, and self-consciously holds her moon amulet, rubbing the charm back and forth along its chain. "Aro, why exactly are you upset_?_ It _is_ just hair, after all. What's the big deal if I put some color in it?"

"It's more that you didn't ask for my permission."

"You're not my father."

As soon as the words are out in the open, Christy winces. Aro isn't too particularly fond of her to begin with, but now she's made their relationship a lot worse. Aro wishes Marcus were around to deal with things, and Christy agrees wholeheartedly. Though all three masters have tolerated her—and sometimes even treated her with kindness—over the course of her life, she's always felt most comfortable around Marcus.

When Christy was first adopted as a baby, Marcus was the one who offered to raise her. When she was a toddler first learning how to walk and kept tripping and hurting herself, it was Marcus who kept picking her up and encouraged her to try again. As Christy grew into a young girl, Marcus helped her find herself. He gave her permission to play a decades old piano and hired a teacher for her when she developed an interest in music, and let her ride her skateboard around the castle grounds. And when she fell off her skateboard, Marcus disinfected her scrapes and put Band-Aids over them. She was probably more than a little spoiled, but nobody had complained yet.

Not that they could, of course. Even though Aro held the most power, Marcus was still a master, and the guard was not permitted to harm Christy in any way. (Granted, this rule didn't prevent Christy from accidentally overhearing a conversation between Felix, Demetri, and Afton on what her blood smelled like and then hiding from everyone in the coven for four straight days, but it wasn't like that was intentional.) Most of the other vampires resented the young human, though, and silently criticized Marcus in his decision to keep her—and _that_ did not sit well with any of the masters. All this meant that Christy did not have a single friend besides her adopted father for most of her life, and it had bothered her a great deal.

"_Marcus," she'd asked one day—she had never called him "Father" or "Daddy" like most children did—after the vampires' lunch, "why did my parents give me up?"_

"_Because it was dangerous to keep you, il mio bambino," he answered, brushing a strand of hair off her face._

"_Why was it dangerous?"_

_Marcus sighed. "We've had this discussion before. You know I can't tell you right now."_

"_When will you to tell me?" she demanded, stamping her foot as some young girls do._

"_First of all, stop that kind of behavior," he warned sharply, placing his hands on her shoulders. "And you are not old enough to know. It's a very complicated situation. But I promise that you will know someday." He paused. "In fact, I will give you a hint. It has to do with this," Marcus continued, and tenderly touched her moon amulet._

_The young girl silently gazed at the face of the moon etched into the silver. It almost appeared to be smiling at her. Smiling lovingly, as if Christy were a precious treasure._

_For a moment, the two were quiet. Then Christy quietly asked, "Why don't they like me?"_

"_Why doesn't who like you, il mio bambino?"_

"_Anyone."_

_Marcus took a deep breath. "They don't like you because they don't know you, Christy. That is all. If you let someone get to know you, they would become your friend."_

_She shook her head. "No, Marcus. They..." she pauses. "Why do they hate me?"_

_Another sigh. It was quite an interesting sound, when one thought of it: a full stream of air with little sound. It could have a voice attached, but this was not so. A sigh was simply air, yet it could contain countless emotions. It was a sound that Marcus made quite often. So often, in fact, that Christy could guess the content of the following sentence by the pitch of his sighing._

"_Do you think you can accept the truth?"_

_Christy nodded. "Yes."_

_Marcus closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "They hate you for what you are."_

"_Because I'm human," she finished, furrowing her eyebrows._

"_Yes. But do not fret. They will learn to love you as you grow up." Marcus offered her a small smile and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. His scarlet eyes stared into her blue ones, and Christy was sure she saw genuine love there._

"_Do you really think so?"_

"_I do, il mio bambino. I do."_

Well, one thing was for sure. Aro had _not_ learned to love her as she grew up. Not a lot of people had, really. The wives, Sulpicia and Athenodora, and their personal guard, Corin, were the only ones who had even tried to form a relationship with her — besides Alec, of course.

Aro pressed his lips into a tight line. _What an ungrateful brat._ "No, I'm not your father. But neither is Marcus."

"No, he isn't, but he's all I have."

For once, Christy wishes Aro could see into her mind. That way, he would know that she means what she said.

"Forgive me, Aro. I didn't mean to offend you. But you and I both know that we don't have a close relationship."

Aro nods stiffly. "I know, child."

The two were silent for a few seconds before Christy said, "So you see why I'd be more comfortable talking to Marcus about this."

"Marcus would go too easy on you," Aro answers.

Of course, Christy was expecting this answer. "But maybe you're going too hard. At the end of the day, it's just hair. What have I done that's so bad?"

"We only had one rule for you, Christy," he says automatically. "Just one. Marcus, Caius, and I have pretty much let you have free reign as long as you didn't leave the castle. You had only _one rule_ to follow, and—"

At that point, Christy's frustration snaps into boiling anger, as quickly as a light switch being turned on. "But if I can't leave, I'm not really free, am I?"

"Christy, please, let's get back to the matter at hand—"

"No!" She rakes her hands through her hair. "I'm not a helpless little girl, and I'm _especially_ not a Stockholm-ridden prisoner! Why can't I have some fun in my life, huh? Why do I have to be stuck here?"

Aro shoots her a cold, deadly glare. "You know perfectly well why. If one of our enemies were to identify you as belonging to us, they would choose to go after you. And if that happened, Marcus would make sure we had a war on our hands. Do you really want to end up dead, Christy? Moreover, do you want to end up as the dead little _deficiente_ that led to the slaughter of your entire family?"

Christy was shaking her head in disbelief before Aro even finished. "Somehow, I don't think the Volturi would be _slaughtered._" She pauses and sighs sadly. "Besides, I can count on one hand how many people would fight for me in that scenario."

For a few moments, vampire and human are silent. Well, almost; Aro's thinking hard, trying to figure out what to do, and Christy is attempting to process the information as it comes from his mind to hers. One minute, he considers going with a harsh punishment, then a lighter one, and then a confusing middle ground that doesn't feel too different than the situation she had before.

Then Aro quietly says, "You're grounded for four months. You do not get to use your laptop, Sulpicia and Athenodora are not to make online purchases for you, you cannot be outside after dark, even in the gardens, and you most _definitely_ cannot leave the castle grounds. If I or anyone else catch you outside our property, _for any reason_, your punishment is extended indefinitely. Am I clear?"

For a minute, Christy is so relieved at not having been thrown on the streets that she almost jumps out of her chair and hugs Aro. But instead, she keeps her cool, and says, "Yes, I do."

"Good. You are dismissed." Aro waves her away with his hand and looks at some paperwork on his desk.

Christy nods once, stands up, and leaves. Once outside the office, she takes a much needed deep breath and continues on to her room.

That had been a pretty close call. Aro had gotten mad at Christy before for things like forgetting to run the dishwasher and for letting her room turn into a pigsty, and he had been on the war path then. But sneaking out was almost an unforgivable offense; the only thing worse would be if she had Tweeted to the entire world about how her "family" is made up of vampires. If that had happened, you could bet your buns that the tweet and account in question would have been erased and Christy would have been dead — literally.

She walks down the corridor like this — lost in her thoughts and twirling a strand of her hair around her index finger. Or, rather, she's lost in her thoughts until an ice-cold hand appears out of nowhere and wraps around her waist.

Christy screams and attempts to elbow her attacker in the face, but the only thing she accomplishes in doing so is hitting her funny bone on something hard as a rock. She cradles her hurt elbow as a familiar voice begins laughing.

"Wow, Chris, you're so excitable," Alec gets out after he's done. "I should do that more often."

Christy shakes her head. "That wasn't funny. I seriously think Aro was about to kick me out."

"Nah, I don't think he'd do that. What _did_ he do, actually?"

The two fall into step as they talk. "He grounded me, prohibited the use of my computer, and banished me from the outside world. I can't even be in the gardens after dark anymore."

"How long are you grounded for?" Alec asks.

"Four months."

"Wow. You're pretty much going to have to kiss civilization goodbye, aren't you?"

"Like I ever said hello in the first place?" Christy laughs bitterly. "I'm limited to the gardens in the daytime and here at night. And even when we snuck out," she continues, lowering her voice, "we could only stay out for two hours at most. I seriously can't wait to get out of here."

Alec raises his right eyebrow. It's a skill he's had for as long as Christy has known him, and probably his whole life, and it's very effective. Oddly enough, though, he can't do it with his left eyebrow. "I didn't think you wanted to be one of us."

She shrugs. "Not really, but if that's what it takes to actually _do_ something...I'm half tempted to ask you to turn me right now."

"And you know that's not happening."

"Yeah, but there's no harm in asking, right?"

Alec raises his eyebrow again. "Are you nuts? Look at my eyes, Chris," he says, gesturing to his face. His eyes are a deep burgundy color; she figures that within a few days, they'll be black. "There can be a _lot _of harm in asking. You're lucky I can control myself."

Christy rolls her eyes and mock-punches him on the shoulder. "Real original. You've playing that joke for, what, two years now?"

"No, only one." Alec takes a deep breath. "But seriously, don't say things like that if you're not ready."

"Who says I'm not ready?" she mutters, but deep down, she knows it's true. Honestly, she doesn't know if she'll _ever _be ready. But how, exactly, could she prepare for it?

Her moon amulet thrums gently against her chest, and she glances down. It's glowing soft pink, and its light causes her fair skin to look flushed.

At first, Alec follows her gaze, but quickly looks upward. "Why is your necklace shining?"

Christy shrugs. "I don't know."

Despite her calm tone, though, Christy suspects that they are not alone in the corridor. She inspects the shadows for—what, really? She doesn't know—for _something_, because she knows that something is there. She suddenly feels an intense need to protect Alec. Which is stupid, because he's a very old vampire and she's just a human. If anything, _he_ should be protecting _her._

And yet...that's not the case.

"Chris?" Alec asks, furrowing his eyebrows. A quick peek inside his mind proves that he's questioning her sanity. "Is there a problem?"

Christy squints and looks around a bit more, but shrugs it off when nothing appears unusual. "I don't think so." The whole situation has made her a bit anxious—and her amulet is still glowing—so she grabs his hand and pulls him along. "Come on, let's go outside while it's still light out."

**(*)(*)(*)**

**Don't forget to review! ;)**


End file.
